


The Lamb Chop Job

by seraphina_snape



Category: Leverage
Genre: Background Alec Hardison/Parker, Canon Relationships, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Parker Being Parker (Leverage), Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-19 05:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11306670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape
Summary: Someone is following Parker. Eliot and Hardison ride to the rescue, only to find out the situation is not quite what they expect.





	The Lamb Chop Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Framlingem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Framlingem/gifts).



> Framlingem: I hope you enjoy this story! 
> 
> A big thank you to my friend Addy for the beta! ♥

Eliot looked up from his paperwork as Hardison burst into the office and practically threw a comm piece at him. 

"What the hell, Hardison?" Eliot groused, even as he automatically picked up the comm piece and slid it into his ear. Hardison's fingers were flying over the screen of his smartphone and his shoulders were tense. Whatever it was, this wasn't Hardison messing around. Something was wrong, which meant--

Eliot tapped his comm piece. "Parker?"

_"--ve me alone!"_

She sounded out of breath, terse. Afraid. 

He stood and crossed over to Hardison, nudging Hardison's arm with his elbow. "Location," he mouthed when Hardison glanced away from his phone for a second. 

Hardison nodded absently and, a few seconds later, turned his phone around. On the screen a map of the area was displayed, with a blinking red dot indicating Parker's position.

"Parker!" Eliot said a little sharper, trying to get her to focus.

"Eliot!" Parker made a frustrated sound and said, obviously not to him, "Go. Away!"

"Is someone following you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I'm on the way back to the Brew Pub. Maybe four blocks or so."

"There's a café on the next corner," Hardison said, a little rushed as Eliot grabbed his jacket and hustled Hardison out of the door. He fidgeted nervously now that he'd put his phone away. "Just stay calm, babe, we're coming to get you."

Eliot nodded. "Good thinking. Parker, find that café and sit down where the people behind the counter can see you. Wait for us."

Eliot and Parker took the four blocks at a jog – not fast enough to attract too much attention, but definitely faster than the average early afternoon shopper. While Eliot would have liked to have Lucille there to make a quick getaway if necessary, it would have taken longer to get there by car. Parker was close enough that he'd never forgive himself should anything happen to her because he wasted precious minutes navigating lunch hour traffic.

"Sweet Cake Café," Parker said a few moment later, letting out a deep breath. 

"Did he follow you in?"

Parker scoffed. "Of course not."

Eliot was on the verge of asking why 'of course' not, but he didn't feel up to Parker's particular brand of logic right now. His mind kept coming up with more and more scenarios, none of them particularly reassuring. Maybe Parker had run into an old mark out for revenge? Or a local gang or a group of thugs? She might have been okay against a couple of guys, especially if she had her tazer, but none of them wanted to attract attention.

And on top of the worry, he felt mildly annoyed because he'd been in the middle of planning next week's specials, trying to find a way to make Hardison's fruity beers appeal to potential customers, and now he'd have to start all over again. 

"We're almost there. What's he look like?"

"Um. Brown, kind of shaggy, young."

Hardison and Eliot slowed down to a walk as they approached the café, keeping an eye out for someone of Parker's description. Eliot didn't see the guy, and a quick glance at Hardison saw him shake his head as well, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. 

Parker was right inside the café, sitting to the left of the door. The place was in full view of the counter and she could see the entire section of street through the window. 

Eliot followed Hardison into the café and sat down on the other side of Parker. "Nice choice in seats," he said by way of greeting. 

Parker beamed at the compliment even though they both knew it was Hardison who had trouble picking the best seat in a place – he usually went for the seats with a power outlet, regardless of where they were. 

"Hi, babe!" Hardison slung an arm around Parker's shoulders and squeezed until she rolled her eyes and pushed him away. 

"I'm fine, don't hover."

"Yeah, yeah," Hardison replied absently, but he let go of Parker and took out his phone. 

Probably hacking the café's security cameras if they had them, Eliot guessed. He turned to Parker. "Where is he?"

Parker looked at him like he was stupid, which was never a good sign. Eliot suddenly had a really bad feeling about this. 

"He's right there," Parker said, jerking her head toward the street. "Twelve o'clock, right outside the window."

Eliot looked outside and saw – a dog. Not quite a puppy but very young, with shaggy brown fur coated in dirt. 

"You've got to be kidding me. Really, Parker. _REALLY?!_ "

Hardison looked up at his words and followed Eliot's gaze. He set his phone down with a thunk and rubbed a hand over his face. He sighed. "Babe."

"What?" Parker put on her best innocent face. "He's been following me, staring at me. I can feel him planning to rip me apart with his teeth, Eliot." She leaned forward a little. "His huge, sharp teeth." She snapped her teeth at him. 

Eliot shook his head. "He's practically a puppy!"

Parker glared at him. " _Teeth!_ "

Eliot glanced at the bag beside the table. A plastic bag of fresh meat from the butchers was visible on top. He heaved another deep sigh. "Parker, did you buy meat?"

Parker nodded. "For Amy. She's covering for Janice and couldn't go pick it up. It's lamb. Can you make us lamb sometime? It sounds nice. Lamb. Laaamb. _Lamb._ I picked up extra for us, so you kinda gotta make some." 

Eliot knew Parker's big smile was supposed to be a winning smile, but it just looked fake with a side of creepy. Still, she was learning. "There's something wrong with you," he muttered, fondly. 

Parker grinned. 

"Okay, did you, by any chance, give this dog some of the meat?"

Parker's face gave her away in an instant.

"He looked so sad and hungry!" She squirmed in her seat. "It was only a tiny little piece! But then it was gone and he kept _looking_ at me and licking his snout and did I mention that his teeth are really big?!"

"You know," Hardison said, almost to himself, "he looks a bit like Scooby. If we cleaned him up a little, he'd be kinda cute. Like our own mascot."

Eliot exchanged a quick look with Parker. He gave an emphatic "no" just as Parker blurted, overly loud, "oh, NO."

The two waitresses and several of the other patrons glanced their way, but Eliot paid them no mind. Now that he knew Parker was safe – and he would be having a talk with her about what constituted giving the rescue party all the _relevant_ information, like the fact that your pursuer was a freaking puppy! – he had to avert the other crisis, and quickly, or they'd be going home with a flea-infested little dog that would end up being his responsibility the moment a shiny new computer (or Parker) deflected Hardison's attention away from the Scooby-look-alike. 

Although, Eliot mused, maybe a dog wouldn't be such a bad idea. He could train him, and the dog would be good company whenever Parker and Hardison were off on one of their dates that seemed to happen all around the world. 

Parker kicked his shin under the table. "No dog! He's a violent beast! He would eat our faces off while we slept!"

Eliot seriously doubted that. He sighed and leaned in, drawing Parker and Hardison closer. "All right, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go into the supermarket over there and buy a bunch of sausages…"

The plan worked. Eliot tossed the sausages into the alley next to the café and watched the dog tear after them. He'd bought enough to occupy the dog for a few minutes, giving all of them enough time head back to the Brew Pub.

#

That night, he prepared a lamb stew that Parker immediately declared her new favorite.

Hardison didn't mention getting a puppy again, but a week later, Hardison presented them with a weird-looking robot dog he called Scooby-Nine, although, according to Hardison, he looked more like K-9 than Scooby. Whoever that was.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
